SCRIPTURE:
"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God." 1 John 4:7
OBSERVATION:
I recently overheard a conversation between some young people that went like this: “Sally was giving me attitude today, so I gave it right back to her, and Karen was talking trash so I got her in trouble, but Jane is always so sweet so I was nice to her.” It’s funny how we often base our attitudes and actions on the people in front of us. It’s like we are mirrors merely returning what we are given and our love is based on the person, or the situation, in front of us. But our reality, as Christians, is that our love should be less like a mirror and more like the moon. A mirror gives back what is in front of it, bad for bad and good for good, but the moon receives light from a greater source, the sun, and then reflects that light. It doesn’t choose who to bestow the light on, it doesn’t decide who is and isn’t deserving of it, it just reflects what it has received. So lately have you been more like a mirror or the moon?
APPLICATION:
1 John 4:7 instructs us to continue to love one another, for love comes from God. He is love, He is the source of love, and as we experience His love we are called to share that love. The moon has no ability to create light in and of itself, so, too, we have no ability to create selfless love in and of ourselves. The moon receives the light from the sun, and so, too, we must receive love from the Son. When the moon isn’t in proper alignment with the sun, or something gets between them, the moon can no longer reflect any light. It’s scary how this rings true in my life. When I’m not in proper alignment with the Son, and when things, situations, and frustrations get in between Him and me, I get pretty selfish and lack love.
So, again, lately have you been more like a mirror or the moon?
This world needs Christians to show God’s love. Within the church in America, there is far too much gossip, slander, and destructive speech and actions, and today God is calling us to be the change and “…continue to love one another, for love comes from God.”
PRAYER:
Jesus, please forgive us for being mirrors, gossips, and for lacking love. Freely You have given Your love, and now please help us to freely give it; not based on what’s in front of us but as reflections of You! Help us to be disciplined to receive Your love so we can be disciplined to give Your love. May this world change because Your people chose to love. In Your name, Amen!
